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Saturday, 15 October 2011

Top South African official ousted again

Johannesburg: Cricket South Africa (CSA) president Mtutuzeli Nyoka was ousted for the second time in eight months when the board of directors passed a vote of no confidence at a special general meeting on Saturday.

The decision, which a statement said was by an overwhelming majority, was the culmination of a battle which has raged for more than a year between Nyoka and chief executive Gerald Majola over bonuses paid to the latter.

Nyoka was an outspoken critic of Majola but the board and its provincial affiliates have consistently backed the chief executive despite a forensic audit report which found that Majola had breached South Africa`s Companies Act on four occasions.

The auditors found Majola had received bonus payments totalling R4.15-million (525,000 dollars) over a 13-month period to May 2010, some unauthorised by the board. The ongoing controversy has made CSA the target of public and media criticism and the organisation is without sponsorship for the current Twenty20 and one-day international series against Australia and for two of the three major domestic competitions.

Nyoka was the subject of a no confidence vote by the CSA members` forum, made up of the 11 provincial presidents, in February.

But the decision was over-ruled by a high court judgment in April which found that CSA had not followed correct procedures and that Nyoka had not been given a proper opportunity to be heard before the vote.

The only action taken against Majola was that he was given a severe reprimand at the CSA annual meeting in August. Despite being reinstated as president, Nyoka did not attend the meeting, reportedly for personal reasons.

The latest move against Nyoka was instituted by the members` forum, which claimed Nyoka had brought the organisation into disrepute by disregarding majority decisions of the board and vilifying the board and its employees in the media.

He was also accused of wanting his 2010/11 honorarium in advance without seeking approval.

Nyoka did not attend Saturday`s meeting because of ill health but sent a deposition that was read out and recorded.

AK Khan, the vice-president, was appointed acting president until the next annual meeting. He said he intended to bring "honesty, integrity and teamwork" to the position. PTI